Media Industry Update – Executive Moves and Market Trends 2025
A Blenheim Partners Perspective
Australian cinemas enter the holiday period with renewed strength. After a soft October, the box office rebounded decisively as Zootopia 2 and Wicked: Part Two drew families and multigenerational audiences back into theatres. The continued success of major tentpoles underlines a simple truth: audiences still turn up for genuine “must-see” experiences, and that reality continues to shape commissioning strategies across every major platform. On a personal note, I’ll be taking my mystery-obsessed 11-year-old to the new Benoit Blanc film, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, this weekend. After many years as a Village Roadshow executive, part of me still measures the world by how it plays in a darkened auditorium.
Across the broadcast landscape, 2025 has been a year of recalibration and leadership transition. Nine has settled under CEO Matt Stanton, delivering another year of audience growth and the most-watched program of 2025 via the record-breaking NRL Grand Final. Network 10 has leaned into its positioning as Australia’s “youngest” network, with 10 Play and Paramount+ driving record streaming growth even as new owner Paramount Skydance reshapes its global portfolio. At the ABC, Hugh Marks’ appointment as Managing Director signals a sharper focus on Australian production outcomes and a more disciplined slate. SBS Managing Director James Taylor’s move to become CEO of oOh!media has created a leadership transition at SBS that will continue to play out into 2026. Together, these shifts point to a sector repositioning for cross-platform futures where commercial clarity, operational discipline and audience intelligence sit firmly at the centre of the mandate.
Free-to-air networks continued to rely on premium sport, news and reality formats to anchor audience share. Seven secured the largest total audience across the year, buoyed by AFL and a deep entertainment slate, while Nine delivered the single biggest TV event of 2025 with the NRL Grand Final, setting new records across Total TV and BVOD. ABC iview and SBS’s digital services showed ongoing momentum, reinforcing that “Total TV” is now the organising principle for monetisation, measurement and executive capability. Leaders who can unify linear, BVOD and streaming into a coherent revenue engine remain in high demand.
Regulation also entered a new era with the introduction of Australia’s first legislated streaming content obligations. Services with more than one million local subscribers must now allocate a defined portion of program expenditure or gross revenue to Australian storytelling. Many platforms were already moving in this direction, but the clarity of the legislation is accelerating local commissioning pipelines, expanding the need for senior compliance and measurement leaders, and deepening investment in the broader creative ecosystem throughout 2026 and beyond.
This year also marked the passage of a world-first reform setting a minimum age of 16 for social media accounts. Enforcement commenced on 10 December, with penalties significant enough to reshape platform behaviour. Advertisers targeting youth audiences will need to rethink channel strategies, recalibrate measurement, and prioritise youth-safe environments across streaming, premium sport and event-based media. The executive implications are equally pronounced: digital safety, audience verification and first-party data stewardship are now essential capabilities for senior leaders across media and technology.
Agency-side, the Omnicom–IPG mega-merger triggered one of the most substantial structural realignments in recent memory, including the consolidation of DDB into Clemenger BBDO in this market. This has accelerated the industry’s shift toward simplified client service models, hybrid in-house and offshore creative engines, and AI-enabled content operations that require both creative fluency and operational rigour. Talent continues to move fluidly between agency, broadcaster and platform environments, underscoring the rise of leaders defined not by channel expertise but by their ability to orchestrate creative, commercial and regulatory priorities simultaneously.
As we look toward 2026, the strategic question becomes less about what is changing and more about who is equipped to lead through it. Executives who can integrate creative ambition with commercial modelling, regulatory foresight, organisational clarity and deep audience insight will be best positioned to thrive. The year ahead will reward those who move with agility, invest ahead of the curve and lead with trust in an environment where audience expectations, regulatory parameters and technological capabilities are evolving in rapid concert.
From all of us at Blenheim Partners, we wish you a very happy holidays and thank you for the role you play in keeping Australia informed, entertained and inspired. If you are reviewing leadership capability, planning structural change, or simply want a sounding board as you prepare for 2026, I would welcome a confidential conversation. Please feel free to reach out directly. And should you find yourself at the movies this season, I may just see you in the foyer.
Seph McKenna
Partner, Insurance, Property and Media